


Legends

by saavik13



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 11:58:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16085645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saavik13/pseuds/saavik13
Summary: “Wolf?”  The alien word curled on his tongue and he repeated it, trying to get the feel for it.  “What is the Wolf?”“A legend.”  The woman stood and backed away.  “A memory.”  And she was gone.  A shimmer of gold and a faint howl marked her passing and Theta shivered.





	Legends

He’d run. Theta snuffled into his sleeve and took in large gulps of air, his respiratory system unable to handle the emotions cursing through his system. He’d run. They weren’t going to accept him at the Academy. He’d never be a Time Lord. He should have known he wasn’t worthy. They all told him so. He should have listened.

There was a soft sound to his right and through his tears he caught sight of a bit of white cloth being held out by a pale hand.

“Hey.” A female voice said softly. “Want to talk about it?”

Theta reached for the cloth and whipped at his eyes before turning to look at the person next to him. Her eyes were nearly as watery as his own as she looked down at him, some emotion pooling in the golden depths. He’d never seen anyone like her before. 

There was something alien about her. Theta couldn’t sense her, not like he could another Gallifrayen, but there was a presence about her that both frightened and comforted him. Her clothes weren’t right either. Instead of the robes the other adults wore, she had on some sort of soft silk dress in a light grey color, devoid of any decoration or rank. There were bits of red grass stuck to her legs and bare feet from where she’d walked through the fresh cuttings on her way up the mountain and her hair was a wild untamed mass. She was getting red grass stains on her lovely dress, Theta thought distractingly, as he tried to figure out why she looked...familiar, yet he knew he’d never met anything like her. The harder he tried to concentrate on her, the more he was reminded of the schism and he cried harder.

The woman made a hushing sound and reached an arm out to hold him and he let her. He wasn’t supposed to need physical contact. But it felt so good...Theta teared up again and tried to swallow it, and failed. His lungs made an odd glurping sound as he swallowed air in an un-natural forced inhale. He chocked and than sobbed harder as his chest started to hurt from his efforts.

“It’s alright.” She murmured into his head as she held him. “We all get scared now and than.” She rocked him gently for a long time. The suns had set and the sky was a vibrant burnt orange by the time he’d pulled himself together enough to start to question.

“Who?” he asked softly and the women’s eyes darkened and she looked away. “I’m sorry.” He said softly. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

She turned back towards him and smiled, her eyes still haunted, the irises reflecting the orange sky in odd glints. He knew then that she was an alien and his hearts thudded quickly in his chest. A real alien! He was talking to a real alien!

She seemed to pick up on his excitement and chuckled, her eyes lightening. “I’m not from here, little one. My name...wouldn’t mean much to you. Not yet.”

Theta frowned. “Not yet? Will it mean something later?” Time travel was a daily part of his life and his people’s, but it was unusual for it take place on their own planet. Normally they kept to a linear timeline here, to save confusion.

The woman flipped her hair over her shoulder and sighed. “Someday it will mean a great deal to you.”

He didn’t have any training, but something in Theta recognized the unspoken in her words and he could swear he felt Time twinge. “We know each other.” He said with certainty. “In my future, I know you.”

The woman looked down sadly. “My past, your future.” She laid a hand gently on his head. “You have such a future, my...” She broke off and bit her lip uncertainly. “I don’t know your name, not in this time and place.”

“I change my name?” Theta frowned. “But we only do that if we are cast out...” He trailed off at her stunned and guilty look. “I won’t tell.” He promised softly. “I may not be a Time Lord, will never be now, but I can keep the future. I am a Gallifreyan.”

The woman made a chocking sound. “You ARE a Time Lord. You just don’t know it yet.”

He shook his head. “I ran.”

“You’ve always been good at that.” The woman rolled her eyes and then got close to him as if telling a secret. “You know what the trick to running is?”

He shook his head no and she grinned. “It’s better with two.”

She took his hand in her surprisingly warm one and pulled him to his feet. “So, what are the rules about this schism?” She asked as she tugged him down to the path and back towards the Citadel. “Do they allow do-overs?”

“I don’t know.” Theta shivered. “I’d rather not find out.”

The woman stopped and knelt before him in the grass, the silk of her dress smearing with even more red grass stains. “What did you see?”

Theta shivered again and wrapped his arms around himself. “Fire. And pain. So much pain. It...went on and on and on....” He took a shaky breath. “And than something howled. I ran.”

The woman nodded as if she’d just received an answer, as if his words confirmed something she’d already guessed. “I heard you call me. I came, as I will always come.” She stood back up, oblivious to her ruined dress, and took his hand again. “I wasn’t expecting you so young, little one. But when you need me, I will always be there.” Her serious expression lasted a long moment before her eyes lightened again. “There is nothing to fear in the schism. It can only show you possibilities. What you carry with you sets the paths you see. The schism showed you fear because you gave it fear. When you try again remember that and give it direction, a path to take, that doesn’t involve your fear but your curiosity.” She smirked. “Something I know you have in abundance.”

She walked him to the edge of the Citadel, sharing silly stories of adventure and travel until young Theta’s imagination was on fire with it. He was curious, now, about so many things. 

She stopped just short of the shield and crouched down to again be at his level. “I can’t go in with you.”

“I know.” Theta paused. “They don’t let outworlders in and you aren’t from here.” He squinted. “You aren’t right in Time either, are you? You aren’t supposed to be here. Or anywhere.”

“No.” She said sadly. “I’m not even real, not in any way they would accept, not without risking more than I dare.” She patted him gently on the shoulder. “But you are real. And your teachers are in there. Tell them...” She paused and closed her eyes. “Tell them the Wolf howled and ask if you can look again.” She opened her eyes and smiled at him. “They will understand.”

“Wolf?” The alien word curled on his tongue and he repeated it, trying to get the feel for it. “What is the Wolf?”

“A legend.” The woman stood and backed away. “A memory.” And she was gone. A shimmer of gold and a faint howl marked her passing and Theta shivered.

“Wolf?” He called softly, but only the wind off the mountain answered.

When he found his teachers and told them of the strange woman and her message they paled. Without a word they took him back and let him try again. This time, as he stared down into the swirling mass of Time he thought of her. The howl returned, whipped at him, and he stayed his ground. It grew louder but rather than threaten it seemed to stretch out in all directions, paths unfolding and reforming before his young eyes, the Wolf showing the way. He stayed there until his teachers began to become restless and he finally broke away.

The Academy accepted him. No mention given to his heritage or his falter during his first test, and no objections. 

Theta never understood why the whisper wolf followed him, or why his instructors always watched him with a careful eye, not until he was in his final classes and the legend, a footnote in his text, appeared. Bad Wolf. A paradox made manifest. An uncontrollable thing the Time Lords did not understand and dared not interfere with. Something made of the Vortex and wild, uncontrolled, untamable. Something that had never, until him, bothered to make contact with them.

Theta shivered as he read the description of this harsh and dangerous entity. Than he remembered her voice, her arms around him, and he knew in his hearts there was more to this story. And the others knew it and feared it.

Theta closed his book and looked around the reading hall in contemplation. She’d told him of adventure. She’d hinted that he would see her again. She’d said she was always there... He glanced up at the monitor, in his harsh Academy robes, with his displeased expression, and wondered, not for the first time, if he really belonged, and if it was all really worth it. A sudden gust of wind blew through the hall and his book flipped back open, landing on the page he’d just read. A shiver passed down his spine and he could have sworn he heard a growl.


End file.
